Otherside
by lass-that-is-gone
Summary: Whom do you wake up for?


**A/N: **_Hello everyone! I'm on my Christmas vacation, finally! I can finally focus on important stuff, like fanfiction. Lol. Priorities. It has been a while since I've written some Nejiten, and this will not be the last because I have a major Nejiten fic brewing. I hope haven't lost my touch, if I ever had any :3_

She opened her eyes to the feeling of warm muscled arms encircling her waist and pulling her towards a warmer body. Tenten could not help the silly smile that still managed to bloom on her face. They have been married for seven years, but waking up cuddled next to him still felt like the morning after their first night together. He still made her feel like a teenager.

"What are you smiling about?" He asked, voice adapting a husky quality from sleep. His breath stirred the bangs on her forehead, making her smile widen and increase in luminescence.

"Good morning to you, too." She greeted, noticing the upward tilt of his lips. Rarely did anyone see her husband smile, but he is her wife and his smiles are all for her taking. She wanted to _giggle, _but it turned into a silent moan when his hands glided along her spine. She hummed in appreciation, urging him to continue his ministrations. "I know what you're doing," She murmured into his collarbone.

"What exactly is it that I am doing, Mrs. Hyūga?" He purred. His other hand buried into her hair, splayed onto her scalp in massaging motions. He knew exactly what he was doing, he wouldn't call her _Mrs. Hyūga _otherwise.

"Well," She started, already rolling them over so that she lay on top of his chest. She ran a slender finger along his bottom lip. "Mrs. Hyūga thinks—" Her sentence, however, was cut off by loud pounding on their bedroom door. She chuckled at the frustrated look on his face.

"Not your lucky day," Tenten teased as she tapped the finger to his nose, making him scowl.

"Mom? Dad? Are you both decent?"

The two of them blushed and decided that certain activities will have to be continued at a later time. Tenten disentangled her person from her husband and let her body sank down into the pillows while Neji, clothed in only a pair of cotton pants, left the bed in order to answer the door.

She took that moment to admire how the pants clung to her husband's behind. _I am waking up to this piece of ass every morning. Yay me!_ She thought triumphantly. Neji caught her staring and gave her playfully admonishing look. She just smiled sweetly and pulled her night shirt on. Her husband just shook his head before opening the door.

Their son, still in his pajamas and clutching a stuffed panda that was gifted to him by his uncle Lee, stood at the doorway, pouting in contemplation. Tenten still could not believe how much their son resembled Neji, even when pouting. Neji bent down and picked the boy up, carrying him towards the bed.

"What's wrong, honey?" She stroked the lengthy brown locks of the child once Neji deposited him on her lap. Her husband also settled himself on the bed, stretched an arm around her shoulders and pulled them closer. Tenten felt her heart throb at sheer sweetness of the gesture. There they were, a young family, lazing around on the bed on a beautiful Sunday morning. Tears prickled her eyes, she but she tried to hold them back when she gazed into Neji's, who seemed to be thinking the same thing. Her eyes fluttered close when he pressed a soft kiss to her and their son's forehead.

"Remember when I said I also wanted a baby sister? Like Shikadai?"

Tenten jaw dropped in surprise. They thought that it was just some childish request that would be long forgotten once he got home from the Nara residence, but, yeah, give it to Neji's child to be constantly serious.

Predictably, it was Neji who was able to recover first. "Yes, we do remember. What of it?"

"I…I just wanted to know how it's coming along. When am I going to get a little sister?" The boy's question was asked with a hefty helping of innocence and naiveté, but the couple blushed and looked at each other. Neji, who was more proficient in controlling his mirth answered. He lifted his free hand on his son's head.

"If it is your fate to have one, then I don't see why not, although there is also an equal possibility that you will have a brother."

Tenten tried hard to suppress an oncoming eye roll. _Really, Neji?_

"But I really want to have a sister, dad!" The boy piped enthusiastically. "I'll love her and protect her like a good big brother should. Boruto does so with Hima-chan."

She smiled warmly at their son, who was gazing at them hopefully in turn. "Hmm…Well, if you are a good boy—I mean eat your vegetables, bathe daily, and not skip class with Shikadai and the others—then fate will surely look at you favourably."

His eyes were wide and his smile wider, reminiscent of Tenten's. "Of course, I promise I'll be a good boy!"

"Good. Then we promise that we'll work harder to grant your request." Tenten chuckled at the sound of Neji choking.

"Awesome! I love you mom, dad." The miniature Neji Hyūga looped his tiny arms around both their necks and hugging them tightly. He was such an affectionate child.

Touched by the gesture, Tenten wondered what she had done to deserve such loving husband and child. She was just incredibly _lucky_, she felt undeserving of it sometimes. She had no idea what she would do if she lost everything. If she lost Neji. If she lost the precious child that they had created together. Living would be hell without them.

"I love you, too, my little dragon." She cradled the boy to her chest, inhaling the sweet, baby smell that still hasn't left him. She lifted her eyes to her husband's. "And you too. I love you, Neji."

His smile was disarming, boyish and had she been standing, would definitely make her swoon. "I love you, too, Mrs. Hyūga." He said before pressing a soft kiss upon her lips. It lasted for a second, but the warmth was fleeting.

With their son's warm weight pressed onto her chest and her husband's arms wrapped protectively around them, Tenten closed her eyes.

She opened her eyes to the burning pain on the area just below her ribs and the strong smell of disinfectant. The stark white ceiling was what greeted her eyes and not the sight of Neji's chest. Her hands were clammy and cold and not interlaced with his calloused ones. There wasn't any trace of a child ever sleeping in her embrace, nor a husband's protective presence.

She opened her eyes and realized, that it had all been a dream, that Neji had been long dead, and that she had always been alone since then.


End file.
